Mina Harker and the Indelicate Subject
by Thalaba
Summary: Mina was too practical for a Soulmate.


So after reading a lot of Captain America/Darcy Lewis/Winter Soldier porn, I feel like I've discovered a new fanfic trope (probably just new to me), that of Soulmate markings. These seem to come in many different forms, but suffice it to say, tattoo-like markings appear on a person's skin at some point that will lead them to the person/people with whom they are meant to share their lives. I've seen a couple of these in The Hobbit fandom, but not many. None in Sherlolly - though everyone should be writing me Sherlolly fanfic, and throw in some A/B/O, just sayin' - and it made me wonder how my favourite LXG characters would change or adapt to this constant being thrown into their lives. For the ones who had been hurt, abused, or traumatized, would the idea of an actual Soulmate be something to cling to or blame? For anyone, would that person/s be an anchor, a crutch, an unattainable ideal, someone to ignore or someone to surround in fantasy?

This is my first attempt in using Soulmate markings. In this story I'm going on the idea that your Soulmate's first words to you are what's on your skin. In future efforts I think I'll stick to the person/s name/s. This is the first bit of fanfic I've written in almost two years I think, the idea wouldn't leave me alone!

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Jonathan had never said the words.

When they had first appeared, Mina, as an already lonely traumatized child, had been startled to say the least at the proximity to her genitalia and the frankly salacious nature of the wording itself. There was something unnerving in the scrawl as well, like a quill had snapped to leave an inkblot on her inner thigh. It did not bode well for the character of fate's chosen life mate. But Wilhelmina Murray had grown into a sensible, pragmatic woman who understood that infant mortality, general illness, war, and world-wide populations greatly reduced the chance of one ever coming into contact with the person Meant for them, not to mention a woman of her inclination and—unattractively, as Lucy was wont to remind her—bullheadedness. When an ambitious yet kind clerk offered suit, (for his own reasons she was sure as Mina never inquired and no explanation besides the genial was ever given) Mina had agreed and looked forward to many years of striving for the common good in a marriage that delivered much in the way of connubial and intellectual satisfaction.

One poor estate decision in Transylvania changed all that, and in the proceeding years Mina had little cause to think heavily on the two words between her legs. Though it was lowering and thoroughly un-suffragist in view, in her equally unchanging and sadistically vicious state of being what man would want her?

Dorian never said the words.

Mina had allowed the situation with Dorian to get out of hand. He was handsome, ever so devastatingly sophisticated, and with an aura of malice that kept his just shy of being a complete fop. Or so Mina's instincts had laughingly informed her; they had been wrong before. Dorian had not been her Soulmate, but she had still given him the power to break her heart.

The call to arms from M was an interesting request, bringing Mina Harker out of the depths of obscurity to dip her heels into England's new—yet seemingly ever present—threat to Queen and country. She had the strength and will and had seen first hand of what true evil was capable. Even with a morbid band of irritating males…and Dorian…Mina was in no condition to deny a new adventure. Or an opportunity to truly slake her appetite. It was a good choice, almost noble if one cared for that sort of thing, and the idea of a Soulmate was not even on the periphery of her conscious mind.

So when those two not-so-simple words slid provocatively from a chained and thrashing giant, beast of a man, Mina was unprepared and thus rendered speechless for possibly the third time in her entire life.

"I'm yours."

Mina never claimed to be perfect and she made a suitable number of mistakes, but the chemist was solitary by nature and if she never spoke directly to one Doctor Henry Jekyll she refused to contemplate the implications as she rarely conversed with any of her fellow travelers, excepting Alan and the Captain. There was a mission to face, and when it was revealed that the mission as well as the League itself was a lie, there were suddenly many more people to kill and a Nautilus of crew members to save. Interactions and commentary became blurry in the eye-opening realization of megalomania and ultimate world domination.

They lost Allan, saved the world, and Mina didn't necessarily wish to return to her apothecary in London. Nemo had opened his Mistress of the Seas to them all for the time being, and the freedom of rolling waves and horizon-filled sunsets was addictive. Cleansing. She didn't even hear Henry approach when he decided he was ready to broach the indelicate subject.

Most Markings could be hidden. Though she had once seen a lad with softly rounded letters flaring across his cheek, it was thankfully of rare occurrence to have the first words of ones Soulmate in an open place for the whole world to judge and debate. Henry removed his coat, rolled one sleeve, and presented her with a naked wrist. Before she could ruin the moment and comment on how better offers had come her way, Mina's gaze was trapped by the precise feminine script that started below the round pad of Henry's hand and continued down the trail of one blue vein:

Are you all right?

"I've seen these words all my life. . .but it didn't even register when you asked me."

"Well we were all being revealed for utter fools at the time," Mina swallowed painfully and looked away, from her own writing and the throb of healthy blood beneath her Soulmate's flesh. "I believe anyone would forget such a small detail at a time like that." Henry was shaking his head before she had finished.

"It has never been a small detail to me."

Turning away from the horizon Mina's chin rose as she perused his troubled countenance. "But Mina. What did I even say to you? I'm sorry." He stuttered and stopped and was suddenly fidgeting with an old but well kept pocket watch. "I'm so sorry. I cannot even remember my first words to you."

For the first time in many years Mina felt an altogether wide, honest smile forging a path across her icy exterior. Later, when he would finally see the words, Henry would blush dreadfully before continuing his explorations. And Edward would laugh and laugh and laugh.


End file.
